Orange County Employment Lawyers Blog
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing reports that since 2012, there have been 90 age-related complaints filed against the 12 top technology companies in Silicon Valley. 
This tells us two things:
- Age discrimination is commonplace in the technology industry.
- The graying workforce isn’t staying quiet about it.
Age discrimination lawsuits nationally are on the rise, as Baby Boomers are reaching and working beyond the age of 65. The New York Times detailed the fact that in 2015, there were 21,000 age discrimination complaints filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Only a small percentage of those actually go to court, and proving these claims at trial is often a challenge. That’s because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that in cases of demotion or dismissal, workers have to prove that age was the motivating factor. That can be tough for a few reasons. One is that we’re often talking about colleagues who may have known each other for a long time and have worked together closely for years. The second is that there is not usually a so-called “smoking gun” that clearly shows age was the motivation. Continue Reading ›